The Arabic Alphabet Reviews

Drawing on her years of experience as an Arabic instructor and course developer, Samia Louis has used a functional approach to create a bright, innovative coursebook for the study of Egyptian colloquial Arabic—the spoken dialect most frequently studied and most widely understood in the Arab world. Designed according to the ACTFL guidelines for teaching Arabic as a foreign language, Kallimni ‘Arabi trains students through ten highly structured lessons in the crucial skills, with particular emphasis on listening and speaking. The associated audio files carry recordings of the dialogues and exercises in each chapter, made by Egyptian native speakers. Click here to listen to the modules on Soundcloud.
From the basics of communicating (asking directions, the language of shopping) to more advanced conversations (future plans, hobbies, and free time), Kallimni ‘Arabi is structured so that students learn Egyptian Arabic using real-life situations and expressions. The key topics covered gradually lead students to understand, use, and speak Arabic, rather than simply memorize fixed phrases. Kallimni ‘Arabi is aimed at students with some ability to read and write Arabic, who have had the equivalent of 30 hours of a beginner Colloquial Arabic class or 40 hours of a Modern Standard Arabic program.

One of the best ways to learn a language is by studying the media that native speakers themselves listen to and read, and popular songs can also reveal much about the culture and traditions of a country where the language is spoken. Egypt, as one of the great cultural production centers of the Arab world, enjoys a particularly rich musical scene, with songs in many styles in both Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Here, Cairo-based Arabic teacher Bahaa Ed-Din Ossama presents twenty songs in Egyptian Arabic performed by popular singers from Umm Kulthoum to Mohamed Mounir and builds a variety of language lessons around them, with notes on vocabulary, grammar, and usage, and communicative exercises in listening, writing, and speaking. The songs are graded from easiest to most difficult, and each lesson includes a link to a performance of the song on YouTube, the lyrics of the song, and notes on the songwriter, the composer, and the singer. An illustration by cartoonist Okacha accompanies each song, adding not just a touch of humor but an additional departure point for classroom discussions. Students using this unique book will not only improve their Colloquial Arabic skills but will also gain an insight into the cultural landscape of Egypt. The book can be used in the classroom or for self-study. Includes songs by: Ali al-Haggar, Dalida, Farid al-Atrash, Laila Murad, Latifa, Medhat Saleh, Mohamed Abd al-Wahab, Mohamed Fawzi, Mohamed Mounir, Nagat, Riham Abd al-Hakim, Sabah, Samira Said, Shadia, Suad Hosni, and Umm Kulthum.